THE CHASE FOR THE NEXTEL CUPSTATS after Bristol, 8/27/2005

2005 RACE TO THE CHASE: 10 GO TO CALIFORNIA
IN RANGE OF THE CHASE

The CaliforniaSpeedway should be sending thank
you letters to Bristol Motor Speedway.
Led by Matt “Lazarus” Kenseth climbing four spots to
11th and within 11 points of The Chase by scoring a 190-point win at
BMS, seven drivers outside the top 10 now find themselves within one race of
the promised land, with two to go. Several pundits, and Kenseth
himself, counted him out of the running before Bristol,
but he’s in the hunt now, and how. Kenseth scored 629
points in August, second only to Tony Stewart’s 677, and now heads to California
with a stout engine and a fired-up team.

CLINCH/NO CLINCH:Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle
on clinching a spot in The Chase at Bristol.
Rusty Wallace has not clinched yet, despite some reports. You can only clinch
if you need no more points to make 10th place or better over the
next two races.

CLINCH/ELIMINATION SCENARIOS (going into California
#2)

Needed to Clinch:191 point lead over 11th place
after California

Deficit Needed to Be Eliminated:191 points out of 10th place and 591
out of 1st place after Bristol

Rank-DriverCurrent
SpreadGain Needed

1—Tony Stewart+617
over 11thCLINCHED at Michigan

2—Jimmie Johnson+409 over 11thCLINCHED at Bristol

3—Greg Biffle+398 over 11thCLINCHED at Bristol

4—Rusty Wallace+351
over 11thOnly needs to start at California
to clinch

5—Mark Martin+226
over 11thNeeds to lose
35 or less to 11th place to clinch

6—Jeremy Mayfield+195
over 11thNeeds to lose
4 points or less to 11th place to clinch

7—Kurt Busch+194
over 11thNeeds to lose
3 points or less to 11th placed to clinch

8—Carl Edwards+61
over 11thNeeds to
gain 130 points on 11th to clinch

ELIMINATION:14th
place Dale Jarrett through 21st place KaseyKahne are vulnerable to elimination at California.
22nd place Kyle Busch on back have been eliminated.